Today’s request for “Plan My Lesson” is from a teacher searching for a first week project that helps students get to know each other AND introduces a few key skills along the way. Perhaps you can relate?
Here’s what she writes: “It’s time to switch up the first project I do in English 10… For the last few years I’ve had the kiddos research their first name, practicing basic research skills, as well as us getting to know them and them doing some self exploration. I want a similar caliber project, but on a different topic.”
So our goal for the lesson is to introduce key elements for a project that will give students a chance to share something important to them as you build community, learn and practice basic research skills, and get them adjusted to a key platform (in my opinion) for the school year, Canva. As usual, it’s a struggle for me to pack it all into one lesson, so feel free to spread this over several depending on how much time you have in your period!
Start with the Routine: Agenda & Attendance Question
If you’re a regular listener to the show, you know I want you to have your class agenda up on the board and, if you have time, kick off the class with a quick community-building attendance question.
Introduce the Infographic Project
Next, it’s time to introduce your project. I’m going to suggest you kick off the year here by having students create an infographic on a topic they really care about, something they’d like to teach the rest of the class about. Maybe it’s an issue like global warming, a hobby like skateboarding, or a personal interest like fashion design. Whatever it is, their job will be to create an infographic about it using three sources that you can then display in your classroom. Along the way, you can review key issues around citation and plagiarism, get students registered on Canva, and start learning about what they care about most.
A great way to get students thinking about how to create a strong infographic is to look at some exemplars like these. Talk them through one or two, then give them time to look through them with a partner and choose a favorite. Wrap up this introduction by building a list on the board together of what makes an infographic appealing, based on why they chose their favorites. Let them know that starting tomorrow they’ll be creating an infographic about something they care about, something they want to teach to the rest of the class, so they can be thinking about topics.
Warm up on Citation Format
Now that students know what’s coming, you can move into preparing them for the project. Depending on your students’ experience level, this is likely a good time to review MLA and citation format. A quick slideshow, a resource handout, a video, a gallery walk of posters – you can do this however you wish. Lighthouse folks, I suggest using the Plagiarism & Citation review slideshow and game.
This, of course, is partly to get students ready for the infographics project, but even more so to prepare them for the year in general. Having a base of knowledge on which to build when it comes to citation and plagiarism will be very helpful for every research-based assignment throughout the year.
Get Registered on Canva for Education
Last but not least in this lesson, I’d like to see you get your students onboarded to Canva (assuming your school is on board with that, and I’m not sure why they wouldn’t be!). Canva is free for schools (get started here). And it’s amazing! If you aren’t familiar with the platform, I’ve created a free mini-course for you to help you get started. So this part of the lesson requires several bits of advance planning from you – getting registered for a free Canva for Education account and adding your students, and familiarizing yourself with the platform.
Once students are onto the platform for the first time, you can walk them through some basic tools like adding text and shapes, adjusting color and size, and positioning things in front or behind other things. If you’ve got time, give them a small challenge so they can practice the tools and ask questions before moving into their infographic design later on.
Exit Activity
As students walk out, invite them to tell you the topic they think they’re going to focus on for their infographic when you begin work the next day.
Teaching Takeaways
One of my favorite ideas from today’s lesson is the concept of gamification. I designed games in the last couple of years for The Lighthouse around rhetorical analysis, plagiarism, and writing strong thesis statements, because they’re complex concepts that come up over and over again. Having a game to help you review big ideas like these can cut down on the necessity for long lectures and help hold students’ interest. Games can take so many different shapes, like spins on game shows, reality shows, board games, card games, or computer games. Once you create one, you can use it over and over again.
Another takeaway from today’s lesson is getting oriented to the free platform, Canva for Education. I highly highly highly recommend this platform to you. If you can get the hang of the basics, and get your students oriented to, it will become a go-to for you (and them) every single time you need to design anything with a visual element. Canva was originally created to make life easier for yearbook teachers, but now it can make life easier for every teacher. (Nope, they’re still not sponsoring me).
Finally, let’s give a nod to student choice right now. For this infographic project, students will practice their research, writing, and design skills, on a topic that they choose, as a way to help introduce themselves to their peers. Wherever and whenever you can build in student choice, it can help up their buy-in. Whether it’s what they read, what they research, whether they work alone or in a group, whether they read in a desk or on the rug, whether they use a template or don’t, etc., I highly recommend you keep the idea of choice as a priority in your planning.
Bonus: The Next Day
Of course, this lesson is just the launching point for a couple days of research, infographic design, and gallery wall creation and exploration. Lighthouse folks, for a shortcut, be sure to snag the infographic project from the Research section.
